[xen-tools-discuss] Problems with xen-create-image --role minimal

[Axel Beckert]

Hi again,

On Tue, Nov 19, 2013 at 01:50:05PM +0100, Axel Beckert wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 19, 2013 at 01:16:20PM +0100, S. Kremer wrote:
> > after upgrade from debian squeeze to debian wheezy and xen 4.1 i have
> > problems to create a new virtual machine by using xen-create-image.
> > 
> > To create a new virtual machine i use the following command:
> > 
> > xen-create-image --hostname new-vm1 --ip 192.168.101.45 --vcpus 1
> > --memory 512m --dist wheezy --passwd --role minimal --partitions server1
> > --verbose
> > 
> > All is fine till the moment the script for minimal role is running.
> 
> I must admit that the example roles which are installed by default
> don't get much love as I don't use them.

The minimal role currently does not work together properly with
--pygrub (which is on by default for e.g. most Ubuntu releases).

> > The script hangs at the point "Removing
> > linux-image-3.2.0-4-amd64..."
> 
> Confirmed. There seems to be an interactive question popping about
> about kernel removal which seems not visible unless you press enter or
> similar due to capturing output and hence not having a proper terminal
> for such questions.

Point is that it shouldn't remove the kernel at all. Currently the
role removes cpio, but initramfs-tools depend on cpio and the kernels
depend on initramfs-tools.

So the quick as well as necessary fix is to not remove cpio. Just
remove the whole line that contains "cpio" from the file.

For the 4.4 release, I'll rework the minimal role to be more minimal
and less based on personal preference, i.e. I'll rather remove all vim
versions and just keep nvi or nano instead of installing (compared to
vim-tiny and nvi rather bloaty) vim.

		Kind regards, Axel
-- 
/~\  Plain Text Ribbon Campaign                   | Axel Beckert
\ /  Say No to HTML in E-Mail and News            | abe at deuxchevaux.org  (Mail)
 X   See http://www.asciiribbon.org/              | abe at noone.org (Mail+Jabber)
/ \  I love long mails: http://email.is-not-s.ms/ | http://noone.org/abe/ (Web)